This invention relates generally to cable management, and more particularly, to cable support brackets for electrical components.
Numerous cable management systems exist today and are used in various electronics equipment applications, such as telecommunications, data transmission, networking, video and the like. Typically, to install a cable management system, a rack frame is securely mounted to the floor within the room in which the system is to be maintained. Multiple patch panels or boxes are then secured to the frame in a stacked arrangement. Each patch panel includes multiple connector ports (e.g. RJ45 connector ports) along the front face thereof and multiple associated cable connections on the rear face thereof.
Conventional patch panels are generally constructed with a rectangular or square horizontal cross sectional geometry or footprint. Each patch panel includes a planar front face. When the patch panels are mounted within the frame, the front faces align with one another in a vertical plane. The patch panels have a height in the vertical direction and a width in the lateral direction. The number of patch panels that are vertically stacked upon one another and the width of the individual patch panels determine the outer dimensions of a connectivity interface within which individual connector ports are retained and arranged in a desired pattern.
As information technology evolves and improves, the need increases for each patch panel system to support more and more individual users. As the number of users increases so does the need for more connector ports and cables which increases the overall physical size. To add capacity at the connectivity interface, the front face is expanded vertically by stacking additional patch panels upon one another. Alternatively or in addition, the connectivity interface is expanded laterally by increasing the width of each patch panel.
With the increase in the number of cables within patch panel systems, cable management systems typically include cable support bars that are coupled to the frame and are spaced apart from the patch panels. The cable support bars direct the cables away from the rear of the patch panels and generally organize the cables. With the increase in the number of patch panels and the number of cables, a typical cable management system includes differently sized cable support bars that arrange the cables at different depths with respect to the patch panels. For example, two inch, four inch and six inch cable support bars may be provided in a typical cable management system. The different sized cable support bars position the cables at different depths from the patch panel to organize and manage the cables. However, to assemble these conventional cable management systems, the installer must carry the differently sized cable support bars in inventory. Having differently sized cable support bars adds to the cost and the complexity of the installation of conventional cable management systems.
A need remains for an improved cable management system having cable supports that may be installed in a time-efficient and reliable manner.